On Target

Although Britain handed the RAF base at Butterworth to Australia on free loan, Australia also paid Britain a fee roughly equal to 50 per cent of the capital cost of the existing RAF facilities at Butterworth. Australia then assumed responsibility for the development and funding of the base expansion. No 2 Airfield Construction Squadron (2ACS) RAAF arrived in late 1955 to commence a construction/refurbishment program which extended and strengthened the main runway to 2,400 metres, built hardstands, taxiways, hangars, fuel storages, armament storage facilities, power supplies, an air traffic control tower, supporting operational facilities, and water and domestic facilities.

‘Britain handed the RAF base at Butterworth to Australia on free loan.’

Of particular difficulty was the extension and strengthening of the north-south runway into water-logged paddy fields. But the RAAF airfield construction squadrons had retained much of their World War 2 expertise and had an enviable reputation for getting difficult jobs done well. 2ACS was up to the task.

On July 1 1958, as eight Canberra bombers from No 2 Squadron touched down, the expanded and refurbished base was transferred from RAF command to RAAF command, becoming RAAF Base Butterworth. In November 1958 and February 1959, Nos 3 and 77 Squadrons, with their Sabre fighters, arrived.

RAAF Butterworth soon settled into an operationally-focused modus operandi including supporting various RAF fighter, bomber, transport and helicopter operations as the Malayan Emergency slowly ground to an end. The RAAF base also came with significant logistic support requirements with No 36 Squadron’s new C-130A Hercules transports – Australia was the first non-US purchaser of the Lockheed four-engine military transport – proving their worth in maintaining regular support services to Butterworth from the east coast of Australia.

By late 1962, tension with Indonesia increased as Britain planned to progress the territories of British North Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore to independence, by federating with Malaya and creating an expanded Malaysia. In January 1963, Indonesia escalated the tension into military ‘Confrontation’, resulting in an increase of operational tempo at Butterworth. RAF and RAAF strike aircraft prepared for conflict, preparing target folders and rehearsing strike missions. That saw RAAF Sabres, by day, and two-seat Gloster Javelins of No 60 Squadron RAF with their Westinghouse APQ-43 radars, by night, stand an ongoing air defence alert, fully-armed. Confrontation ceased, in September 1965, after a failed coup set in chain events that elevated General Suharto to the presidency of Indonesia.

In June 1962, an additional demand was placed on the RAAF when SEATO called for assistance with the air defence of Thailand. Australia responded by deploying a RAAF Sabre squadron, No 79 Squadron, to Ubon, Thailand. The new deployment, while nominally a squadron, was in reality a half-squadron and although not publicly acknowledged was mounted and supported from RAAF Butterworth involving some innovative arrangements where aircraft and pilots were rotated between Ubon and Butterworth.

The routine involved a No 2 Squadron Canberra flying a navigational exercise to the north. As the Canberra taxied for departure from Butterworth, one or more Sabres could be seen taxying, in radio silence, departing closely behind the Canberra. Once airborne, the Sabres joined into close formation with the Canberra to offer only one radar return. The Canberra was duly intercepted by Sabres operating from Ubon and returned to Butterworth. Only a close observer could see the returning Sabres had different tail numbers to those that had departed Butterworth some two hours earlier.

The six-year RAAF deployment to Ubon ended in August 1968, soon after No 2 Squadron deployed from Butterworth to Vietnam and No 75 Squadron arrived at Butterworth with its Mirage IIIOF interceptors. But by far the most substantial change regarding the nature of the RAAF presence at Butterworth was soon to come following the declaration, in January 1968, that Britain would withdraw from its interests ‘East of Suez’ by 1971. We will discuss the implications of that in our next column.